A California serial killer who police believe may have killed more than 60 people has been named as a suspect in an unsolved murder from 45 years ago in Oregon.
Randy Kraft, who was convicted of 16 murders in Orange County, California in 1989, is being considered in the 1980 murder of 30-year-old Larry Eugene Parks, NBC News reported. Parks remained a "John Doe" until he was identified using forensic genealogy last year.
Kraft, now 80, is in jail at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Although he was convicted of 16 murders, Kraft is a suspect in as many as 60 homicides on the West Coast and in Michigan, NBC News reported.
Police believe Kraft's murders began in 1971 and ended in 1983, when he was pulled over for driving erratically, and police found a dead victim, bound, sitting in the passenger seat, longbeachize.com reported. Police also found what was believed to be Kraft's scorecard - a document authorities say Kraft used to keep track of his many homicides. The scorecard had 61 entries, including some that noted double murders.
Parks' family lost touch with him in 1979. His remains were found in July 1980 along Interstate 5, The Californian reported. Park's body was found a day after the body of Michael O'Fallon was also found along Interstate 5 in Talbot, about 34 miles to the south. Police believed the two cases were related and evidence from the murders was used at Kraft's trial in 1988.
"With Parks' identity confirmed, investigators are now working to bring resolution to the 45-year-old case," police said.
